UC-NRLF 


B    3    E^fi    1ST 


AMERICAN  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY 
RESEARCH  SERIES  NO.    5 

W.  L.  G.  Joerg,  Editor 

THE 

AGRARIAN  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES 

OF  HIGHLAND  BOLIVIA 


GEORGE  McCUTCHEN  McBRIDE 

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THE  AGRARIAN    INDIAN   COMMUNITIES  OF 
HIGHLAND  BOLIVIA 

The  republic  of  Bolivia  consists  of  three  great  natural  divisions: 
the  eastern  lowland;  the  long  valleys  reaching  westward  into, 
and,  in  some  cases,  beyond  the  eastern  range  of  the  Andes;  and 
the  highland  plateau,  or  altiplano,  and  its  bordering  ranges. 
Each  of  these  regions  is  characterized  by  distinctive  soils,  climate, 
vegetation,  products,  and  human  distributions.  A  varying 
relation  to  the  soil  from  region  to  region  is  manifested  in  a  cor- 
responding diversity  in  systems  of  agriculture  and  land  tenure. 

Bolivia  an  Agricultural  Country 

Highland  Bolivia,  consisting  of  the  plateau  and  of  the  valleys 
lying  above  some  6,000  feet,  is  distinctly  an  agricultural  country. 
Though  Bolivia  is  renowned  principally  for  its  mineral  products 
— gold,  silver,  copper,  and  tin — most  of  the  people  are  occupied 
in  tilling  the  soil.  According  to  the  last  census  (1900)  564,009, 
or  32  per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants  were  engaged  in  agriculture, 
whi'e  only  399,037  were  occupied  in  "general  industries,"  and 
but  12,625  m  mining.1 

Since  the  earliest  times  the  people  of  this  region  have  been 
farmers.  Mining,  stock  raising,  commerce,  fishing  have  been 
merely  incidental.  Tilling  the  ground,  irrigating  the  fields, 
planting  and  harvesting  their  crops  have  been  the  occupations 
about  which  grew  up  laws,  government,  social  customs,  and 
religion.  The  Inca,  some  centuries  before  Columbus,  found  about 
Lake  Titicaca  sedentary  tribes  of  Indians,  who  already  for  ages 
had  practiced  agriculture.  He  extended  over  them  his  rule, 
making  them  a  part  of  his  empire,  Tahuantinsuyo,  itself  a 
politico-agrarian  institution.    When  the  Spaniards  entered  this 

1  Geografia  de  la  Repiiblica  de  Bolivia,  official  edit.,  Oficina  Nacional  de  Inmi- 
gracion,  Estadistica  y  Propaganda  Geografica,  La  Paz,  1905. 

Censo  general   de  la  poblacion  de  la  Repiiblica  de  Bolivia,  Septiembre  i°  de 
1900,  Vol.  1:   Resultados  Generales,  ibid.,  La  Paz,  1902. 


015 


2  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

region,  though  they  came  in  search  of  gold,  many  of  them  soon 
abandoned  the  quest  for  such  treasure  and  settled  down,  appro- 
priating land  and  people  alike  to  form  their  great  rural  estates. 

Distribution  of  the  Population 

Though  constituting  only  about  one-third  of  the  territory  of 
Bolivia,  the  plateau  area  contains  some  three-fourths  of  the 
population.  In  the  five  upland  departments,  La  Paz,  Oruro, 
Potosi,  Cochabamba,  and  Chuquisaca,  are  located  all  of  the  large 
cities  and  most  of  the  towns  of  the  republic.  Here,  too,  are  found 
nearly  all  of  the  white  and  mixed  races  and  all  of  the  civilized 
Indians,  the  Quechuas  and  the  Aymaras,  who  are  the  agricul- 
turalists of  the  country. 

Yet  large  tracts  of  the  highlands  are  utterly  unfit  for  cultivation 
or  for  human  habitation.  The  lofty  mountain  regions  (above 
14,000  feet)  are  thinly  peopled,  as  are  also  great  expanses  on  the 
altiplano  where  deposits  of  salt,  borax,  and  other  mineral  sub- 
stances are  located  in  an  almost  absolute  desert.  This  has 
crowded  the  inhabitants  into  certain  closely  restricted  areas,  in 
which  sufficient  soil  exists  to  render  agriculture  possible.  Some  of 
the  high  valleys  from  8,000  to  12,000  feet  above  sea  level  and 
selected  spots  about  Lake  Titicaca  show  from  40  to  100  persons 
per  square  mile,  being  in  many  cases  made  up  almost  entirely  of 
rural  inhabitants.2  These  thickly  settled  centers  of  population 
are  usually  far  separated  from  each  other.  They  are  divided  one 
from  the  other  by  high  ridges,  insurmountable  ranges,  almost 
impassable  torrents,  or  on  the  altiplano  by  extensive  semi-desert 
wastes.  About  the  shores  of  Lake  Titicaca  great  irregularity  of 
the  coast  line  has  contributed  to  the  isolation  of  the  individual 
settlements  located  there. 

Attachment  to  the  Soil 

With  compactly  settled  districts  such  as  these,  dependent  from 
the  very  earliest  times  upon  agriculture,  there  could  but  result  a 

2  Isaiah  Bowman:  The  Distribution  of  Population  in  Bolivia,  Bull.  Geogr.  Soc. 
of  Philadelphia,  Vol.  7.   1909.  PP-  74~93. 


ATTACHMENT  TO  SOIL  3 

strong  attachment  to  the  soil  and  well-established  forms  of  land 
tenure.  It  is  no  surprise  to  find  that  to  the  Bolivian  aborigine 
"land  is  the  very  breath  of  life."  If  he  holds  it  as  free  property  it 
is  his  "pearl  of  greatest  price."  So  dear  is  it  to  him  that,  in  time  of 
famine,  he  will  sell  his  child  rather  than  part  with  his  diminutive 
parcel  of  ground.  He  fences  it  with  a  wall  of  stones  or  mud.  He 
carefully  guards  the  boulders  that  mark  its  bounds.  He  looks 
upon  every  traveler  with  a  suspicious  eye  for  fear  the  stranger 
may  covet  his  tiny  holdings.  If,  as  is  usually  the  case,  the  land 
belongs  not  to  an  individual,  but  to  a  group  of  persons  who  hold 
it  collectively,  it  is  no  less  dear.  Every  member  of  the  body  is 
per  se  a  defender  of  its  holdings.  No  greater  perfidy  can  be 
committed  than  to  violate  or  fail  to  support  the  ancient  custom  of 
guarding  the  common  holdings. 

The  Indians  not  only  love  their  land;  they  cling  to  it  genera- 
tion after  generation.  Most  of  the  families  have  lived  on  their 
present  holdings  from  time  immemorial.  Nothing  will  induce 
them  to  move.  There  is  far  more  fertile  soil  in  the  valleys  east  of 
the  Cordillera.  A  milder  climate  may  be  found  in  the  valleys 
which  the  Indian  traders  visit  from  time  to  time.  But  these  facts 
do  not  entice  them  to  abandon  the  lands  upon  which  their 
fathers  lived.  Even  the  inducement  of  good  wages  in  the  cities, 
at  mines,  or  upon  the  railroads  can  seldom  uproot  these  devoted 
farmers  from  their  little  plots  of  ground.  Even  if,  as  often 
happens,  the  land  be  absorbed  by  an  adjoining  hacienda  and 
passed  repeatedly  from  one  owner  to  another,  the  Indian  remains 
on  it,  being  transferred  with  the  soil.  Only  by  the  use  of  violence 
and  by  the  demolition  of  his  humble  cottage,  the  destruction  of 
his  sheep  corral,  and  the  appropriation  of  his  fields  can  he  be 
driven  from  the  place.  Centuries  of  occupation  have  fixed  him 
fast  to  the  soil. 

It  is  easily  seen  that  only  the  most  meager  subsistence  can  be 
secured  from  such  diminutive  plots  of  land  as  those  held  by  the 
community  Indians.  To  supplement  the  scanty  living  obtained 
from  the  soil  they  must  engage  in  various  other  pursuits.  Those 
who  live  on  Lake  Titicaca  or  the  Desaguadero  River  build  boats 


4  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

of  the  totora,  a  kind  of  bulrush  that  grows  in  the  shallow  margins 
of  the  water,  and,  with  nets  of  their  own  making,  catch  fish  which 
they  sell  fresh  in  the  markets  near  by  and  dried  in  those  more  dis- 
tant. Others  carry  on  a  number  of  home  industries:  weaving 
blankets  from  the  wool  of  sheep,  llamas,  alpacas,  and  vicunas; 
making  crude  pottery,  plaiting  grass  mats  and  baskets,  or  manu- 
facturing hats,  sandals,  bags,  and  other  such  things  that  their 
neighbors  need.  Still  others,  with  their  droves  of  llamas,  gather 
llama  dung  (the  principal  fuel  used  on  the  plateau)  or  act  as 
carriers  between  regions  not  yet  reached  by  the  railroads.  Even 
so,  most  of  the  Indians,  though  with  few  wants  and  well  schooled 
in  thrift  by  hard  necessity,  are  constantly  on  the  verge  of  starva- 
tion, and  the  failure  of  a  single  year's  crops  brings  them  face  to 
face  with  actual  famine. 

Organization  of  the  Communities 

Under  the  geographical  conditions  already  mentioned  it  was 
but  natural  that  there  should  grow  up  a  system  of  communities, 
where  each  separate  valley  or  secluded  corner  of  the  plateau 
developed  its  individual  life,  centered  about  the  cluster  of 
thatched  dwellings  where  lived  the  closely  related  members  of  a 
clan.  Such  a  social  organization,  with  its  inevitable  agrarian 
character,  seems  to  have  existed  on  the  highlands  of  Peru  and 
Bolivia  from  the  very  earliest  times.  The  old  Spanish  historians 
describe  this  communal  system  and  the  collective  ownership  of 
land  that  prevailed  throughout  the  Inca  Empire.  Early  Indian 
tradition  records  the  belief  that  their  first  rulers  established  this 
common  possession  of  the  soil.  That  it  was  in  no  sense  an  inno- 
vation of  the  Incas  is  maintained  by  those  who  have  studied  the 
Aymara  civilization  which  preceded  the  Quechua  dynasty.3  It 
seems  rather  to  have  dated  from  the  very  beginnings  of  Aymara 
culture  and  to  have  been  the  foundation  upon  which  the  social 

*  Bautista  Saavedra:   El  Ayllu,  Paris,  1913. 
C.  R.  Markham:   The  Incas  of  Peru,  New  York,  ioio,  pp.  150-172. 
Heinrich  Cunow:   Die  soziale  Verfassung  des  Inkareichs,  Stuttgart,  1896. 
T.  A.  Joyce:   South  American  Archaeology,  London,  1912,  pp.  99-143. 
A.  F.  Bandelier:   The  Islands^of  Titicaca  and  Koati,  New  York,  1910. 


COMMON  LANDS  5 

and  political,  as  well  as  the  agricultural,  organization  was  built, 
both  among  the  Quechuas  and  the  Aymaras. 

This  communal  system  had  as  its  base  the  ayllu,  or  clan,  of  the 
Aymara  and  Quechua  tribes.  Originating  probably  as  a  purely 
social  organization  the  ayllu  took  on  an  agrarian  character  as  the 
people  became  more  sedentary  in  their  life,  the  land  replacing 
the  family  as  the  bond  of  union.  As  a  result  the  communities 
usually  contained  several  ayllus  banded  together  by  the  common 
possession  of  the  land.  The  village  or  vicinity  occupied  by  this 
group  of  closely  related  families  was  known  as  a  marca,  a  term 
said  to  be  of  purely  Aymara  origin  and  preserved  in  many  of  the 
place  names  of  the  Andes,  but  curiously  enough  almost  the 
identical  word  used  among  the  ancient  Teutons  (with  a  different 
original  significance)  to  designate  their  community,  the  mark. 

A  peculiar  feature  of  the  ancient  community  organization, 
surviving  in  many  places  today,  was  the  division  of  each  clan 
into  two  groups,  the  aransaya  and  the  urinsaya.  This  division 
of  the  people  is  said  to  have  originated  at  the  time  of  the  founding 
of  Cuzco  as  the  capital  of  the  nascent  Inca  Empire.  In  that  city 
the  inhabitants  were  separated  into  these  two  groups,  the  terms 
meaning  upper  and  lower  divisions.  Just  what  significance  this 
distinction  carried  with  it  is  uncertain,  but  the  aransaya  people 
were  in  some  way  considered  superior.  Whatever  the  significance, 
this  division  was  preserved  throughout  the  history  of  the  Inca 
dynasty,  survived  the  reconstruction  attendant  upon  the  Spanish 
conquest,  and  marks  many  of  the  communities  in  Bolivia  and 
Peru  even  yet,  with  but  slightly  modified  name. 

Common  Lands 

The  lands  held  by  the  ayllus  were  of  at  least  two,  probably 
three,  kinds.  There  was  the  grazing  land  which  was  free  to  all 
members  of  the  clan,  and  upon  which  the  guaccliallama,  or 
common  flocks  of  llamas  and  alpacas,  were  herded  by  a  designated 
representative  of  the  community.  There  was  also  the  agricul- 
tural land,  which  was  distributed  annually  among  the  heads  of 
particular  families.     In  addition  to  these  two  kinds  of  common 


6  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

holdings,  the  plot  of  ground  upon  which  each  house  was  built 
seems  to  have  been  held  almost  as  private  property  that  de- 
scended from  generation  to  generation  as  a  possession  of  the 
family.  This,  however,  could  probably  not  be  alienated,  at  least 
to  persons  outside  of  the  ayllu. 

In  the  yearly  allotment  of  tillable  land  each  head  of  a  family 
received  what  was  known  as  a  sayana.  This  consisted  of  one 
tupu,  or  "measure,"  of  ground,  equivalent  approximately  to  a 
Spanish  fanega  and  a  half,  or  to  about  24  acres.4  The  individual 
allotment,  the  sayana,  did  not  always  consist  of  a  single  parcel 
but  was  made  up  sometimes  of  several  widely  separated  plots  in 
order  that  the  choice  lands  might  suffice  to  go  around  in  the 
distribution  and  in  order  that  each  might  have  a  piece  of  the 
various  kinds  of  ground.  On  Lake  Titicaca,  for  example,  an 
Indian  might  receive  a  small  plot  in  the  rich  alluvial  soil  at  the 
border  of  the  lake,  another  back  upon  the  piedmont  slope,  and 
another  upon  the  cold  summits  of  the  near-by  ridges.  Each  of 
these  parcels  would  be  planted  in  a  different  kind  of  crop.  The 
one  near  the  lake  would  yield  corn,  those  farther  back  quinua 
(Chenopodium  quinua),  while  the  rich  but  cold  soil  on  the  hilltops 
would  serve  only  for  potatoes,  ocas  {Oxalis  tuber osa),  or  other 
equally  hardy  crops.  Besides  the  one  "measure"  that  each 
paterfamilias  received,  an  additional  tupu  was  assigned  him  for 
each  son,  and  half  a  tupu  for  each  daughter.  The  son  if  marrying 
within  the  clan  would  retain  his  tupu,  or  rather  his  right  to  a 
tupu  in  the  annual  allotment.  The  daughter  did  not  have  this 
privilege,  her  measure  reverting  to  the  father  or  the  ayllu. 
Inheritance  in  ancient  times  was  probably  by  the  female  line,  but 
in  post-Conquest  days  it  was  through  the  son.5  Childless  couples 
sometimes  adopted  a  child,  called  uta-guagua,  who  might  per- 
petuate their  rights  in  the  ayllu,  for,  like  the  Hebrews,  they  were 
very  solicitous  that  their  heritage  should  not  lapse. 

In  the  cultivation  of  the  land,  that  dedicated  to  religious  uses 
was  given  precedence.    All  joined  in  preparing  this,  planting  it, 

4  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega:  First  Part  of  the  Royal  Commentaries  of  the  Yncas, 
Vol.  2,  pp.  9-1 1,  Haklnyt  Soc.  Pubis.,  ist  Series,  Vol.  45,  London,  187 1. 

5  Bandelier,  The  Islands  of  Titicaca  and  Koati,  pp.  84  and  146. 


MODIFICATIONS  BY  THE  SPANIARDS  7 

and  reaping  the  crops.  This,  and  the  similar  service  rendered  on 
the  imperial  lands,  seems  to  have  constituted  the  principal 
taxation  imposed  by  the  Inca  upon  his  people.  After  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  land  set  aside  for  the  Sun,  that  of  widows,  orphans, 
the  infirm,  and  the  wives  of  soldiers  on  duty  was  next  cultivated 
in  the  same  manner.  The  individuals'  sayahas  were  next  planted. 
Even  here  the  spirit  of  co-operation  prevailed,  for  many  worked 
together  voluntarily,  helping  each  other  on  their  respective 
parcels.  Finally  the  land  of  the  nobles  and  that  of  the  emperor 
were  cultivated,  all  joining  in  the  task. 

In  spite  of  the  demands  of  a  population  so  great  that  they  could 
barely  subsist  upon  the  products  of  their  lands,  the  Indians 
scrupulously  allowed  certain  parts  of  the  ground  to  lie  fallow 
during  much  of  the  time.  Opinions  differ  as  to  how  often  they 
cultivated  the  individual  fields.  At  the  present  time  Bolivian 
farmers  say  about  one-eighth  of  the  poorer  land  is  cultivated  each 
year.  The  better  lands  may  be  planted  yearly.  Senor  Alfredo 
Sanjines,  in  a  report6  on  agricultural  conditions  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Oruro,  calculates  that  in  the  Province  of  Carahgas  each 
field  is  tilled  only  once  in  twenty  or  thirty  years.  Dr.  David 
Forbes,  in  his  excellent  study  of  the  Aymara  Indians,7  states  that 
land  is  cultivated  every  five  years,  being  allowed  to  rest  the  other 
four.  This  probably  represents  a  fair  average  for  present  as  well 
as  ancient  times,  since  much  of  the  land  on  the  mountains  and  on 
the  altiplano  is  extremely  poor  in  quality  and,  being  plowed  to 
the  depth  of  only  a  few  inches,  would  yield  little  if  planted  more 
frequently. 

Modifications  Introduced  by  the  Spaniards 

Though  during  the  growth  of  the  Inca  Empire  some  modifi- 
cations were  introduced,  it  would  appear  that  the  basis  of  the 
land  system  remained  almost  unaltered  until  the  advent  of  the 
Europeans.    The  land  hunger  of  the  Spanish  conquerors  caused 

6  Alfredo  Sanjines  G.:  Seccion  de  Agricultural  Informes  varios,  Rev.  del  Minist. 
de  Colon,  y  Agric,  Vol.  3,  1907.  PP-  358-364;   reference  on  p.  363. 

7  David  Forbes:  On  the  Aymara  Indians  of  Bolivia  and  Peru  [communicated. 
June  21,   1870,  to  the  Ethnological  Society  of  London],  London,   1870. 


\/ 


8  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

many  of  the  communities  to  disappear  and  brought  about  certain 
changes  in  those  that  remained,  though  the  Crown  decreed 
numerous  measures  for  the  protection  of  the  Indians  and  their 
lands.8  During  the  colonial  times  the  ayllu  was  supplanted  in 
some  respects  by  a  secondary  unit  which  reveals  its  origin  in  its 
Spanish  name.  This  is  the  estancia,  introduced  as  a  subdivision 
of  the  ayllu.  Originally  signifying  merely  the  common  pasture 
allotted  to  the  flocks  of  a  small  group  of  families,  the  term  came 
to  be  applied  to  this  smaller  group  itself  and  to  the  parcels  of 
agricultural  land  held  by  the  families  composing  it.  With  the 
loss  of  the  political  significance  of  the  ayllu  and  the  partial 
replacing  of  the  community  head  by  representatives  of  the 
colonial  government,  this  smaller  unit  assumed  some  of  the 
attributes  of  the  ayllu,  such  as  the  obligation  of  keeping  up 
irrigation  ditches,  preserving  and  defending  the  ancient  land- 
marks, as  well  as  the  oversight  of  the  common  pasture. 

Modifications  Introduced  by  the  Bolivian  Republic 

Since  colonial  days  far-reaching  changes  have  been  decreed 
at  various  times  but  without  greatly  affecting  the  agrarian 
features  of  the  communities,  though  their  political  character  has 
been  modified.  The  office  of  cacique,  or  chief  of  the  Indian 
communities,  was  entirely  abolished  in  1825  by  decree  of  Sim6n 
Bolivar,  the  "Libertador"  of  Bolivia.  The  alcalde,  who  took  his 
place  as  the  head  of  each  communal  unit,  receives  his  appoint- 
ment from  the  correjidor  (local  representative  of  the  Bolivian 
Government),  but  probably  often  in  accordance  with  suggestions 
of  the  Indians  themselves.  His  duties  are  the  maintenance  of 
order;  he  is  virtually  the  sheriff  of  the  community.  Under  him, 
but  in  a  different  capacity,  is  the  ilacata,  appointed  in  the  same 
way,  upon  whom  rests  the  responsibility  of  collecting  the  tax 
paid  by  the  communitylndians  to  the  Bolivian  authorities  (Fig.  2). 
For  either  of  these  positions  the  correjidor  would  scarcely  select 
a  person  whom  he  did  not  feel  sure  to  be  persona  grata  with  the 

8  Recopilacion  de  leyes  de  los  Reinos  de  las  Indias,  5th  edit.,  4  vols.,  Madrid, 
1841;  reference  in  Vol.  2,  pp.  217-309. 


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MODIFICATIONS  BY  BOLIVIAN  GOVERNMENT     9 

Indians  themselves.  Two  alcaldes  de  campo  who  regulate  such 
matters  as  the  cultivation  of  fields,  the  distribution  of  water  for 
irrigation,  the  collecting  and  care  of  crops,  and  the  rendering  of 
personal  service  complete  the  executive  and  administrative  force 
of  the  community.  The  jurisdiction  of  each  of  these  officers  is 
coterminous  with  the  individual  community.  Bandelier9  notes 
the  existence  of  a  council  of  elders  (princi  pales),  composed  of 
those  who  have  served  in  the  above  capacities.  He  considers 
that  this  council  is  the  de  facto  government  of  a  community, 
though  its  operation  is  so  silent  and  its  deliberations  so  carefully 
guarded  that  its  existence  is  seldom  even  suspected. 

The  republic,  continuing  colonial  custom,  exacts  a  land  tax 
from  each  comunario.  The  amount  varies  according  to  his 
holdings,  which  in  turn  depend  upon  his  relation  to  the  various 
classes  into  which  membership  in  the  community  is  divided.  In 
a  community  there  exist  the  following  classes:  originarios, 
forasteros,  reservados,  and  proximos.  Sometimes  the  last  three  are 
grouped  together  under  the  term  agregados.  Not  all  communities 
contain  all  of  these  different  classes.  As  the  names  are  all 
Spanish  it  is  thought  that  they  owe  their  origin  to  colonial  times, 
though  it  is  known  that  some  such  system  existed  in  the  days  of 
the  Incas.  The  Aymaras'  use  of  their  own  term  yanapaco  to 
describe  one  whose  relation  to  the  community  corresponds  to 
that  of  the  three  last  classes  gives  strength  to  the  belief  that  they 
may  have  existed  under  other  names  in  ancient  times.  The 
originarios  are  those  who  from  the  remote  past  have  belonged  to 
the  community  and  received  their  yearly  assignment  of  lands. 
They  generally  receive  double  the  amount  of  land  held  by  the 
other  classes.  The  agregados  (including  the  three  classes  referred 
to)  are  those  who  in  more  recent  times  have  become  attached  to 
the  community,  from  outside  the  circle.  Being  allotted  about 
half  the  amount  of  land  held  by  an  originario  they  pay  about 
half  as  much  in  land  tax.  While  their  contribution  territorial  (as 
the  land  tax  is  called)  is  from  Bs.  3.00  to  Bs.  5.00,  the  originarios 

9  Mr.  A.  F.  Bandelier  had  collected  materials  for  a  work  on  the  ethnology  of  the 
Bolivian  Indians.  His  widow,  Mrs.  Fanny  Bandelier,  very  kindly  placed  these  notes 
at  the  disposal  of  the  writer  during  the  preparation  of  the  present  paper. 


io  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

pay  the  yearly  sum  of  Bs.  10.00.  (The  boliviano  is  equal  to  about 
40  cents  American  money.)  No  other  land  tax  is  imposed  upon 
the  Indians  who  belong  to  communities.  However,  keeping  up 
the  customs  of  the  Inca  and  colonial  regimes,  the  comunarios  are 
required  to  contribute  certain  personal  services  to  the  government 
or  its  representatives.  These  consist  chiefly  in  supplying  pro- 
visions for  any  troops  that  may  be  in  the  vicinity,  providing 
messengers  when  needed  by  the  local  authorities,  and  furnishing 
mules  for  travelers  when  demanded  by  the  correjidor.  This 
custom  gives  rise  to  great  abuses  on  the  part  of  the  local  author- 
ities, who  often  use  this  obligation  as  a  cloak  for  securing  many 
personal  services. 

Aside  from  this  general  oversight  and  the  exaction  of  the  land 
tax  the  Bolivian  government  leaves  the  communities  very  largely 
to  their  own  control.  Even  the  police  of  the  republic  seldom 
interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  community  except  in  case  of 
serious  disorder. 

In  1866  President  Melgarejo  promulgated  a  decree  by  which 
the  communities  were  abolished  and  the  lands  were  declared  to 
belong  to  the  Indians  in  severalty.  An  immediate  result  was  that 
many  of  the  Indian  holdings  passed  into  the  hands  of  whites  or 
mestizos.  After  the  overthrow  of  Melgarejo's  dictatorship  these 
sales  were  annulled  (1871),  the  bona  fide  buyers  being  reimbursed 
by  the  government,  which  still  carries  a  part  of  the  cost  of  this 
act  of  justice  as  an  item  in  its  internal  debt.  The  size  of  this 
item  (Bs.  338,037.41)  shows  how  rapidly  the  Indian  lands  began 
to  pass  into  other  hands  during  the  five  years  in  which  the 
legislation  of  Melgarejo  was  in  force.  Succeeding  legislation  has 
aimed  to  protect  the  aborigines,  while  at  the  same  time  recog- 
nizing the  Indians  as  owners,  in  severalty,  of  their  portions  of 
communal  land.10  Officially  the  term  employed  now  is  always 
excomunidades.  The  Indians  may  dispose  of  their  holdings  by 
appearing  before  the  proper  authority  (the  notario  de  hacienda), 
establishing  their  titles,  and  asserting  their  willingness  to  sell. 

10  Manuel  Ordonez  Lopez:  Constitucion  politica  de  la  Republica  de  Bolivia: 
Leyes  y  disposiciones  mas  usuales,  2  vols.,  La  Paz,  1917;  reference  in  Vol.  1,  pp. 
584-619. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  COMMUNITIES  u 

They  have  no  written  deeds,  of  course,  but  prove  their  ownership 
by  the  testimony  of  their  neighbors,  particularly  the  older 
members  of  the  vicinity.  Much  of  the  community  land  has  thus 
passed  out  of  the  Indians'  hands  since  that  date.  However,  the 
cohesion  is  so  strong  in  these  time-honored  agrarian  groups  that 
many  of  the  so-called  ex-communities  have  as  completely  dis- 
regarded the  Republic's  statutes  as  they  did  those  of  the  Spanish 
colonial  authorities  and  continue  to  maintain  their  communal 
ownership  as  in  times  gone  by. 

Distribution  of  Surviving  Communities 

The  distribution  of  these  still  surviving  communities  is 
determined  largely  by  certain  geographical  factors.  Location — 
chiefly  with  respect  to  travel  routes — the  depth  and  character  of 
the  soil,  and  climatic  conditions  are  the  influences  that  have  been 
most  potent  in  the  preservation  or  destruction  of  these  "ex- 
communities." 

Communal  ownership  is  seldom  encountered  along  the  main 
routes  of  travel,  particularly  the  older  routes.  Here  the  land  is 
chiefly  in  fincas,  free  holdings,  survivals  in  most  part  of  those 
great  estates  granted  as  encomiendas  or  repartimienlos  by  the 
Spanish  Crown.  Along  the  principal  roads  and  railroads  of  today 
there  have  grown  up  also  many  large  farms  of  recent  creation 
composed  of  lands  once  held  by  community  Indians  but  either 
bought  or  "acquired  by  other  means"  by  men  of  white  or  mixed 
blood.  It  is  in  out-of-the-way  corners  of  the  country  that 
community  lands  are  still  found:  among  the  mountains  where 
whites  seldom  penetrate,  in  secluded  angles  of  the  piedmont 
slopes,  among  the  isolated  peninsulas  that  border  Lake  Titicaca, 
on  high,  inaccessible  ridges,  and  out  in  semi-desert  wastes  on  the 
open  altiplano. 

As  to  soil,  the  Spanish  sought  that  of  the  valleys,  where, 
either  on  the  flat  valley  floors  or  upon  the  rich  and  well-watered 
alluvial  fans,  most  of  the  Bolivian  farms  are  located.  The 
mountain  ridges  with  their  scantier  and  less  fertile  soil  were  left 
to  the  Indians,  as  were  also  the  salt-impregnated  lands  of  poorly 


12  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

drained  areas  on  the  plateau,  and  the  tiny,  though  fertile  pockets 
at  the  high  valley  heads. 

Climate  was  a  determining  factor,  largely  because  of  the 
penetrating  cold  at  that  great  altitude.  Where  a  softer,  milder 
temperature  was  encountered,  as  in  the  many  valleys  that  dissect 
the  eastern  Andes,  the  Spaniard  not  only  found  that  he  could 
better  withstand  the  cold  himself  but  that  the  European  plants 
and  animals  which  he  introduced  could  more  easily  become 
acclimated.  So  upon  the  colder  heights  and  the  wind-swept 
altiplano  the  Indians  were  usually  allowed  to  retain  their  land. 
While  rainfall  appears  to  have  influenced  less  the  distribution 
oifinca  and  community  than  it  has  the  size  of  individual  holdings 
in  both,  categories,  the  supply  of  water  for  irrigation  has  been  an 
important  factor  in  determining  whether  a  community  should  be 
permitted  to  survive.  The  easily  irrigated  lands  have  generally 
passed  into  the  hands  of  whites. 

DEPARTMENT   OF   LA   PAZ 

Though  Indian  communities  exist  in  all  the  highland  depart- 
ments of  the  republic  (Figs.  4  and  5),  La  Paz,  with  its  large  pro- 
portion of  Indian  population — 75  per  cent,  according  to  the 
census  of  1900 — contains  the  greatest  number.  In  this  depart- 
ment every  province,  and  probably  every  canton,11  is  represented 
by  aboriginal  agrarian  groups.  Omasuyds  has  always  been 
known  as  the  center  of  all  that  is  aboriginal,  and  in  the  number 
of  Indians  who  belong  to  these  communities  it  is  far  ahead.  Paca- 
jes,  Sicasica,  and  Munecas  follow.  These  are  all  distinctly 
plateau  provinces,  few  of  them  having  any  land  below  12,500 
feet.  (The  recently  created  provinces  of  Camacho  and  Ingavi 
from  parts  respectively  of  Omasuyos  and  Pacajes  have  been 
ignored  as  separate  units  in  this  study  because  almost  no  statistics 
are  available  since  the  date  of  their  establishment,  1908  and 
1909.)  The  valley  provinces,  Larecaja,  Inquisivi,  Yungas,  and 
Caupolican,  have  far  fewer  communities.    The  plateau  provinces 

11  The  territorial  subdivisions  of  Bolivia  are  designated,  in  descending  order  of 
rank,  as  follows:   departamentos,  provincias,  cantones. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  LA  PAZ  13 

combine  the  geographical  factors  already  referred  to,  of  isolation, 
poverty  or  scantiness  of  soil,  and  severe  climate. 

Provinces  of  Omasuyos  and  Munecas 

Omasuyos  and  Munecas  lie  along  the  northeastern  border  of 
Lake  Titicaca.  This  has  been  from  Inca  times  the  stronghold  of 
the  Aymaras,  and  here  their  ancient  customs  are  best  preserved. 
In  these  districts  weaving  is  done  on  the  primitive  loom  (Fig.  3). 
Plowing  and  harvesting  follow  the  time-honored  ancestral 
methods.  Quechua  and  Spanish,  the  tongues  of  the  conquerors, 
are  rarely  known,  while,  as  about  the  southern  end  of  the  lake, 
the  Aymara  language  is  preserved  in  great  purity.  Religion  is 
here  nearer  to  paganism  than  to  Christianity.  Education  is 
rare.  The  native  blood  of  Collasuyo,  as  the  Incas  termed  this 
Titicaca  region,  is  freer  from  admixture  than  elsewhere.  Char- 
acter is  cruder,  rougher,  but  more  moral,  with  typical  Aymara 
traits,  utterly  unlike  the  mild-natured  Quechua  of  Cuzco  or  of 
southern  Bolivia.  This  is  distinctly  a  region  of  Aymara  survivals. 
Its  primitive  communal  land  tenure  is  in  keeping  with  this 
heritage  from  the  remote  past.12 

Isolation  and  an  extremely  hard  environment  account  for 
much  of  the  backwardness  of  this  region.  Routes  of  travel,  in 
ancient  as  in  modern  times,  have  left  these  provinces .  far  to  one 
side.  The  movement  of  armies  and  of  trade  has  followed  the 
southwestern  shore  or  has  crossed  the  lake  from  northwest  to 
southeast,  but  seldom  has  passed  along  the  northeastern  side. 
The  southwestern  route  is  more  level,  the  shore  line  more 
regular.  Along  the  northeastern  side  of  the  lake  the  land 
surface  is  broken  by  spurs  of  the  Andes  and  by  numerous  rapid 
streams,  while  a  series  of  peninsulas  juts  far  out  into  the  water, 
and  numerous  corresponding  bays  make  both  land  and  water 
travel  along  this  shore  circuitous.  Thus  these  provinces  have 
lain  completely  out  of  the  current  of  important  events  and 
constitute  one  of  the  most  secluded  sections  of  the  country. 

12  Rigoberto  Paredes:  La  Altiplanicie:  Descripcion  de  la  Provincia  de  Omasuyu, 
Bol.  Direcc.  Gen.  de  Estadist.  y  Estudios  Geogr.,  Vol.  10,  1914.  pp.  51-123-    La  Paz. 


i4  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

On  the  peninsulas  of  this  northeastern  shore  are  located  some 
of  the  strongest  Indian  communities  in  the  country.  In  this 
isolated  environment  they  have  held  their  own  for  centuries 
against  any  encroachments.  A  description  of  one  of  these  will 
suffice,  as  a  type  of  the  community  in  its  least  modified  forms. 

On  the  peninsula  of  Achacache  that  reaches  far  out  into  the 
lake  to  meet  the  opposing  peninsula  of  Copacabana,  thus  forming 
the  Strait  of  Tiquina,  there  exists  the  strong  independent  com- 
munity of  Calaque.  Composed  of  some  three  hundred  families 
who  occupy  several  small  villages  of  neatly  thatched  adobe 
houses,  they  hold  and  cultivate  this  land  in  common,  as  in  ancient 
times.  An  area  of  some  fifty  square  miles  is  included  in  their 
possessions,  and  their  well-tilled  fields  are  estimated  to  be  worth 
about  500,000  bolivianos  ($200,000).  As  chief,  or  alcalde,  they 
have  an  ex-service  man  from  the  Bolivian  army,  a  pure  Indian, 
one  of  their  own  number.  Under  his  leadership  they  have  been 
able  to  resist  all  attempts  to  encroach  upon  their  land.  Though 
legally  each  member  of  the  community  holds  his  own  sayana,  so 
strong  has  been  the  cohesion  in  this  group  that  few  have  dared  to 
part  with  their  holdings.  On  one  occasion  when  a  member  of  the 
community  yielded  to  the  inducement  of  a  flattering  offer  for 
his  sayana,  the  Indians  en  masse  took  up  arms  and,  attacking  the 
adjoining  farm  whose  owner  had  bought  the  parcels,  they  forced 
the  return  of  the  deed  of  sale,  only,  however,  after  a  stubborn 
fight  in  which  a  number  of  the  farmer's  Indians  were  killed.  On 
another  occasion  some  "jaimas"  (tax-free  holdings  of  a  former 
Indian  noble)  were  sold,  also  with  the  result  of  a  battle,  in  which 
the  community  regained  its  land. 

The  Community  of  Collana 

Another  community  where  political  control  remains  almost 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Indian  ayllu  is  that  of  Collana,  not 
far  from  La  Paz.  Though  within  some  ten  miles  of  the  city  this 
little  community  has  seldom  been  seen  by  any  of  the  white 
inhabitants,  for  it  lies  high  up  among  the  hills  that  close  the 
southeastern  end  of  the  La  Paz  gorge.    Consisting  of  only  a  few 


DEPARTMENT  OF  LA  PAZ  15 

square  miles,  and  numbering  not  more  than  six  hundred  souls, 
this  tiny  settlement  in  its  isolated  site,  where  difficulty  of  travel,  a 
rigorous  climate  (for  it  is  on  the  cold  heights  over  13,000  feet 
above  sea  level),  and  scarcity  of  tillable  soil  make  intrusion  of 
the  whites  unlikely,  has  maintained  its  organization  throughout 
the  centuries — this,  too,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  almost  from 
their  doorways,  though  their  secluded  village  itself  is  well-nigh 
invisible  from  the  neighboring  hills,  one  can  look  down  upon  the 
whole  valley  and  the  city  of  La  Paz.  From  this  secluded  eerie 
they  have  watched  four  centuries  of  white  generations  come  and 
go,  with  all  the  vicissitudes  of  political  and  economic  changes, 
but  have  not  been  affected  in  the  slightest  degree.  Each  year 
there  takes  place  the  re-allotment  of  the  land;  each  day  the  cattle 
go  out  to  pasture  upon  their  common  grazing  land;  each  season, 
as  in  former  times,  the  planting  and  the  harvesting  is  carried  on 
in  voluntary  co-operation.  Bound  up  with  their  communal  land 
system  is  a  complete  social  and  political  organization.  They 
elect  annually  an  alcalde  from  their  own  number  and  a  cabildo 
(or  council)  to  assist  him.  To  these,  their  own  officers,  are 
referred  all  questions  of  public  administration.  They  direct  the 
distribution  of  the  land.  They  regulate  the  use  of  the  meager 
springs  that  supply  the  community  with  water.  They  even  sit  in 
judgment  in  civil  and  criminal  cases,  imposing  at  times  the 
penalty  of  death.  So  jealously  do  these  Indians  guard  their 
sacred  rights  to  the  land  and  to  their  independence  that  it  is  said 
they  permit  no  outsider  to  remain  overnight  in  their  com- 
munity.13 The  settlement  is  typical  of  many  others  that  are 
hidden  away  in  such  inaccessible  nooks  of  the  Andes. 

Province  of  Sicasica 

In  the  Province  of  Sicasica,  which  lies  on  the  eastern  edge  of 

the  altiplano  about  halfway  between  Oruro  and  La  Paz,  many 

Indian  communities  survive  very  much  in  their  pre-Conquest 

form.     Here   the   cantons  of  Aroma,   Umala,   and   Curaguara 

13  Rigoberto  Paredes:  Description  de  la  Provincia  del  Cercado  [of  La  Paz], 
Bol.  Oficina  Nad,  de  Estadist.,  Vol.  6,  1910,  pp.  614-667;  Vol.  7.  191 1.  PP-  1-18. 
La  Paz, 


16  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

contain  the  largest  number  of  communities,  having  12,  14,  and  14, 
respectively.  Illustrative  of  how  lightly  the  Indian  regards  any 
measures  taken  by  the  Republic  of  Bolivia  is  the  fact  that,  though 
the  town  of  Umala  was  separated  from  Sicasica  by  the  govern- 
ment and  was  made  into  a  pueblo  with  distinct  jurisdiction,  the 
aboriginal  population  of  both  towns  refuse  to  recognize  the 
partition,  keeping  up  their  original  communal  arrangement, 
administering  their  lands  as  a  unit,  and  feeding  their  flocks  on 
common  ground  as  formerly.14 

In  this  province  there  is  an  example  of  the  odds  against  which 
the  Indians  have  to  contend  in  the  tenacious  effort  to  cling  to 
their  lands.  In  1718  and  again  in  1744  the  Indians  of  the  canton 
of  Ayoayo  bought  back  from  the  Crown  of  Spain  the  lands  of 
which  they  had  been  despoiled  by  the  conquistador es,  paying  a 
handsome  sum  into  the  King's  treasury.  In  recognition  of  the 
transaction  they  were  freed  from  obligation  to  pay  the  contribu- 
tion territorial.  In  spite  of  this  they  have  gradually  been  brought 
under  taxation  again,  until  now  only  two  of  the  seven  communities 
remain  free  from  the  usual  payment.  In  1729  the  Indians  of 
Sicasica,  composed  of  the  two  customary  divisions,  aransaya  and 
urinsaya,  with  their  eleven  communities,  also  bought  back  their 
lands  in  a  similar  manner  and  purchased,  too,  a  few  adjoining 
haciendas.  The  latter  have  now  been  lost  to  them,  however,  by 
the  encroachment  of  white  or  mestizo  neighbors. 

Province  of  Pacajes 

There  are  many  strong  Indian  communities  in  the  Province 
of  Pacajes  at  the  southeastern  end  of  Lake  Titicaca.  This  is  a 
typical  altiplano  province.  None  of  it  lies  lower  than  the  lake, 
12,544  feet  above  sea  level.  Most  of  the  territory  consists  of 
flat,  unproductive  plateau,  but  there  are  also  a  number  of  low 
hills  and  ridges  that  serve  to  break  the  unity  of  the  province  and 
that  separate  the  different  communities. 

A  unique  group  of  South  American  Indians  is  situated  in  this 

14  Rigoberto  Paredes:  Descripcion  de  la  Provincia  de  Sicasica,  Bol.  Oficina  Nad. 
de  Estadist.,  Vol.  6,  iqio,  pp.  403-426.     La  Paz. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  LA  PAZ  17 

province.  These  are  the  Uros  that  dwell  beside  the  Desaguadero, 
the  river  that  drains  Lake  Titicaca.  Subsisting  chiefly  by  hunt- 
ing and  fishing,  they  ply  their  reed  boats  (balsas)  among  the  wide- 
extended  swamps  that  here  border  the  river.  Their  houses  are  of 
rude  construction,  being  built  of  mud  and  thatched  with  straw 
or  totora,  the  bulrush  from  which  their  boats  are  made.  They 
appear  to  be  among  the  oldest  occupants  of  the  plateau.  Appar- 
ently stranded  in  this  inhospitable  place,  they  have  continued  to 
exist  as  a  distinct  tribe,  with  a  language  all  their  own — a  survival 
perhaps  of  some  conquered  people,  too  weak  in  numbers  or  in 
energy  to  seek  a  better  abode.  They  enter  any  discussion  of  land 
tenure  only  in  a  negative  sense,  as  they  are  almost  entirely  land- 
less. They  practice  little  if  any  agriculture,  though  some  of  them 
now  own  small  herds  of  cattle  and  llamas.  They  form  the  rare 
example  of  a  highland  Indian  tribe  which  is  not  markedly 
attached  to  the  soil,  in  contrast  to  the  agricultural  people  that 
surround  them.15 

On  all  sides  of  the  Uros  are  strongly  organized  and  desperately 
maintained  agrarian  communities  of  Aymaras.  On  the  plain  and 
among  the  hills  of  this  province  exist  some  of  the  most  refractory 
of  the  aborigines  of  Bolivia.  They  are  frequently  at  war,  on  a 
small  scale,  usually  over  a  question  of  land.  Neighboring  fincas 
encroach  upon  their  communal  holdings,  or  some  white  man  or 
mestizo  attempts  to  gain  a  foothold  in  their  midst,  and  soon  there 
is  a  call  for  troops  to  quell  an  Indian  uprising.  In  a  few  cases 
they  have  realized  the  futility  of  further  struggle  and  have 
invited  some  trusted  Bolivian  to  become  their  patron,  turning 
over  to  him  their  lands  to  form  a  finca  and  they  themselves 
becoming  his  virtual  serfs.  They  are  careful,  however,  to  stipulate 
that  ancient  customs  are  to  be  preserved,  and,  since  among  the 
finca  Indians  of  Bolivia  as  well  as  in  the  communities  custom 
is  far  stronger  than  law,  they  are  perhaps  safer  than  if  they  were 

15  Jose  Teribio  Polo:     Indios  Urus  del   Peru   y   Bolivia,  Bol.  Oficina  Nad.  de 
Estadist.,  Vol.  6,  ioio,  pp.  481-517.     La  Paz. 

D.  G.  Brinton:  Observaciones  sobre  la  lengua  puquina  del  Peru,  transl.  from 
the  English,  with  an  introduction,  by  Manuel  Vicente  Ballivian,  Bol.  Soc.  Geogr. 
de  La  Paz,  Vol.  16,  1918,  pp.  65-85. 


18  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

the  unprotected  prey  of  the  land-hungry,  and  often  entirely 
unscrupulous,  Bolivian  cholo  (half-breed).  By  such  procedure 
they  free  themselves,  too,  from  the  burdensome  oppression 
exercised  by  the  petty  officials  of  the  government.  On  such 
fincas,  and  in  fact  on  many  others,  there  persist  many  of  the 
communal  features  from  days  when  they  were  independent. 

DEPARTMENT   OF   ORURO 

In  the  Department  of  Oruro,  Indian  communities  still  hold 
much  of  the  land  lying  west  of  the  Desaguadero  River,  particu- 
larly in  the  Province  of  Carangas.  There  the  parcialidad  is  the 
prevailing  unit.  It  corresponds  to  the  holdings  of  a  community 
and  has  come  to  be  recognized  as  a  political  as  well  as  an  agrarian 
unit.  Each  canton  is  divided  into  so  many  parcialidades,  usually 
two  or  three,  and  each  of  these,  in  turn,  contains  a  group  of  ayllus 
(from  two  to  ten).  In  many  cases,  as  on  other  parts  of  the 
plateau,  the  ancient  division  of  the  people  into  aransaya  and 
urinsaya  (upper  and  lower  town)  is  still  retained. 

In  the  Province  of  Abaroa  many  communities  exist,  particu- 
larly in  the  far  western  section  of  the  altiplano,  on  the  piedmont 
beyond  Lake  Coipasa.  In  this  region,  far  removed  from  roads 
and  railroads,  and  in  the  secluded  mountain  valleys  and  basins 
westward  to  the  Bolivian-Chilean  boundary,  are  timid  and 
primitive  Indian  groups  which  preserve  their  ancient  customs, 
and  white  people  seldom  visit  them. 

In  the  Province  of  Cercado,  especially  in  the  canton  of  Paria, 
there  are  also  found  many  surviving  communities,  though  here 
contact  with  the  whites  along  roads  leading  from  Oruro  to  La  Paz 
and  Cochabamba  has  favored  the  absorption  of  communities 
by  adjoining  fincas. 

In  Poopo,  about  Lake  Poop6,  communities  hold  a  large  share  of 
the  land.  The  inhabitants  here  divide  their  time  between  farming 
and  mining,  receiving  good  wages  in  the  silver  mines  near  by 
and  returning  to  their  fields  only  for  planting  and  harvesting.16 

18  Pedro  Aniceto  Blanco:  Diccionario  geografico  de  la  Republica  de  Bolivia, 
Vol.  4:   Departamento  de  Oruro,  La  Paz,  1904. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  CHUQUISACA  19 

DEPARTMENT    OF    POTOSI 

The  Department  of  Potosi,  all  of  which  lies  high  on  the 
altiplano  or  among  the  elevated  ridges  of  the  eastern  cordillera, 
has  a  big  representation  of  Indian  communities.  The  aboriginal 
population  is  there  large.  According  to  the  last  census  (1900) 
there  were  189,947  Indians  in  the  department,  the  larger  part 
of  whom  are  probably  still  living  in  communities.  Every  one  of 
its  provinces  in  1877  showed  an  important  number  of  contri- 
buyentes,  that  is,  of  community  Indians  who  paid  their  tax  on 
the  basis  of  communal  holdings.  In  this  respect  Potosi  ranked 
next  to  La  Paz,  as  it  does  also  in  the  total  Indian  population  at 
present.  Porco,  perched  high  upon  the  mountains  and  over- 
flowing onto  the  altiplano,  was  largest  payer,  10,872  Indians  from 
that  province  contributing  the  sum  of  Bs.  76,862,  in  the  year 
referred  to  (1877),  as  contribution  territorial.  The  Province  of 
Frias,  a  distinctly  industrial  region  surrounding  the  celebrated 
silver  mines  of  Potosi,  was  the  province  that  showed  the  smallest 
number  of  community  Indians. 

In  the  Province  of  Charcas,  which  projects  fartoward  the  north, 
forming  a  transition  zone  between  the  valley  provinces  of 
Cochabamba  and  the  highland  areas  of  Oruro,  the  communities, 
though  struggling  hard  to  hold  their  own,  are  rapidly  giving  way 
before  the  inroads  of  mestizos,  who  seek  the  Indian  lands.  Here 
practically  all  the  land  that  is  sheltered  and  well  enough  watered 
to  make  maize  cultivation  possible  has  already  passed  out  of 
aboriginal  possession.  The  Indians  retain  little  except  the  cold, 
less  productive  heights  above  some  10,000  feet,  where  only  pota- 
toes, ocas,  and  barley  can  be  raised.17 

DEPARTMENT   OF   CHUQUISACA 

The  old,  well-settled  Department  of  Chuquisaca  with  its 
capital,  Sucre,  the  intellectual  and  cultural  hub  of  the  Bolivian 
world,  contains  certain  provinces  where  the  aboriginal  system  of 

17  L.  S.  Sagarnaga:  Diccionario  geografico  del  Departamento  de  Potosi  fincom- 
plete],  Anuario  Nad.  Estadist.  y  Geogr.  de  Bolivia,  La  Paz,  1017,  pp.  lxxxiii-cclxlii 
[sic:  i.e.  ccxcii]. 


20  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

land  tenure  still  holds  its  own.  In  the  Province  of  Yamparaez 
are  some  of  the  strongest  communities  in  the  republic.  Tarabuco 
and  Quilaquila,  cantones  whose  farthest  borders  are  not  more  than 
thirty  miles  from  Sucre,  contain  many  of  these  independent 
settlements.  They  occupy  the  high  ridges — 10,000  to  12,000  feet 
above  sea  level — that  separate  the  many  valleys  of  these  prov- 
inces. The  comunarios  here  are  of  Quechua  race,  as  are  almost 
all  of  the  Indians  of  the  southern  half  of  the  highlands.  On  their 
cold,  bleak  heights,  all  that  is  now  left  to  them  of  the  extensive 
lands  they  held  under  Inca  sway,  they  cultivate  the  characteristic 
upland  crops  and  provide  the  capital  of  the  republic  with  much 
of  its  food  supply.  A  sharp  distinction  is  made,  as  in  other  places, 
between  the  originarios  and  the  various  classes  of  agregados. 
Here,  too,  may  occasionally  be  found  the  ancient  designation  of 
aransaya  and  urinsaya  already  noted  as  preserved  on  the  alti- 
plano.  Because  of  its  valley  character  most  of  the  land  in 
Chuquisaca  has  long  since  become  the  property  of  white  owners, 
excepting  the  more  elevated  districts  already  referred  to,  the  far 
eastern  plains,  and  the  adjoining  lower  valleys  that  are  inhabited 
by  uncivilized  Indians.18 

DEPARTMENT  OF  COCHABAMBA 

Cochabamba  long  ago  ceased  to  be  an  Indian  country.  Trav- 
ersed as  is  the  department  by  many  fertile  valleys,  some  of  them 
of  considerable  width,  it  early  became  the  focus  of  Spanish 
settlement.  These  productive  regions,  from  6,000  to  9,000  feet 
above  sea  level,  enjoy  an  almost  ideal  climate  of  constant  spring, 
and  so  rapidly  were  they  filled  with  Europeans  that  the  aboriginal 
race  in  its  purity  soon  disappeared.  As  a  consequence  communal 
holdings  are  now  rare  in  any  except  the  higher  parts  of  the 
department.  But  in  the  Provinces  of  Arque  and  Tapacari  that 
lie  in  the  hill  country  adjoining  the  Departments  of  Oruro  and 
Potosi  there  are  localities  where  Indians  retain  their  land  in 
common  as  upon  the  altiplano.    The  industrial  activity  of  recent 

18  Diccionario  geografico  del  Departamento  de  Chuquisaca,  Sociedad  Geografiea 
Sucre,  Sucre,  1903- 


NUMBER  OF  COMMUNITY  INDIANS 


21 


years  that  has  accompanied  the  construction  of  railroads  has 
brought  its  menace  even  to  these  regions. 

Number  of  Indians  Living  in  Communities 
Such  are  the  characteristics  and  the  distribution  of  the 
community-held  lands  in  these  highland  provinces  of  Bolivia. 
Statistics  showing  the  amount  of  land  so  owned  and  its  exact 
distribution  by  political  divisions  of  the  country  are  hard  to 
obtain  and  at  best  are  fragmentary.  Since  legally  the  community 
no  longer  exists  it  finds  no  recognition  in  government  reports. 
The  most  comprehensive  figures  available  bearing  upon  the 
extent  of  communal  land  are  those  contained  in  the  "Revisitas 
indigenales"  from  1850  to  i877.19  These  statistics  give  the 
number  of  Indians  who,  in  the  specified  years,  paid  the  contri- 
bution territorial.  From  these  data  we  can  obtain  not  only  some 
light  regarding  the  number  of  community  Indians  in  each  prov- 
ince and  department  but  also  a  basis  for  estimating  the  amount 
of  land  they  held  and  cultivated.  According  to  these  statistics 
the  number  of  Indian  contributors  to  the  land  tax,  that  is  the 
number  of  Indians  occupying  parcels  of  community  land  in  1877 
(or  the  last  year  for  which  data  are  given),  was,  by  departments 
and  categories,  as  summarized  in  Table  I. 

Table  I — Indian  Contributors  to  the  Land  Tax  in  1877 


Department 

Originarios 

Agregados 

Total  of 
Contributors 

La  Paz 

73.989 

13.439 

87,428 

Potosi 

14,612 

28,493 

43.105 

Oruro    

15.636 

11,663 

27,299 

Cochabamba 

7.295 

4.377 

11,672 

Chuquisaca          

1.647 

6,689 

8,336 

Five  highland  departments 

113. 179 

64,661 

177.840 

19  Cuadros  estadisticos  de  las  revisitas  indigenales  de  la  Repiiblica  desde  el  afio 
1850  a  1877,  Bol.  Oficina  Nad.  de  Inmigr.,  Estadist.  y  Propag.  Gcogr.,  Vol.  1,  1901, 
PP.  SI3-S23-     La  Paz. 


22  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

If  we  allow  three  persons  for  each  Indian  who  paid  the 
contribucion  territorial — the  basis  which  is  probably  most  cor- 
rect for  the  sedentary  tribes  of  the  highlands — we  find  the 
Indian  population  living  on  community  land  in  these  de- 
partments to  have  been  about  500,000.  The  census  of  1854 
gave  the  total  Indian  population  of  the  five  departments  under 
consideration  as  796, 004.20  Since  the  different  censuses  taken 
show  that  the  Indian  population  on  the  plateau  does  not  vary 
rapidly  we  may  accept  that  figure  as  approximately  correct  for 
1877.  This  would  indicate  that  about  67  per  cent  of  the  highland 
Bolivian  Indians  were  living  in  communities. 

Extent  of  Community  Holdings 

The  contents  of  the  tupu,  or  measure  of  land,  assigned  to  each 
Indian  seems  to  have  varied  considerably.  In  pre-Conquest  and 
early  colonial  times,  we  have  seen  that  this  measure  was  equal 
to  i>2  Spanish  fanegas,  or  2.4  acres.  But  according  to  the  decree 
of  President  Acha  (dated  Oruro,  February  28,  1862),  upon  which 
Melgarejo's  decree  of  1866  seems  to  have  been  based,  a  tupu  is 
specified  to  contain  2,000  square  varas,  or  15,456.8  square  feet 
(0.35  acre).  In  declaring  that  the  comunarios  should  henceforth 
possess  their  holdings  rent  free,  Acha  specified  that  each 
originario  should  receive  three  tupus  of  good  or  irrigated,  or 
six  tupus  of  poor  or  unirrigated  land:  that  the  forasteros  (evi- 
dently including  all  the  agregados)  should  receive  two  or  four 
tupus,  according  to  the  quality.21  This  assignment  no  doubt  was 
intended  to  include  the  usual  proportion  of  fallow  land  but  not 
the  pasture  and  was  intended  to  represent  approximately  the 
extent  of  tillable  land  corresponding  to  each  individual  in  the 
common  holdings.  While  the  former  size  of  the  tupu  (2.4  acres) 
may  have  been  that  employed  in  Inca  times,  the  latter  (0.35 
acre)  is  probably  a  more  accurate  measure  of  the  holdings  today. 
It  gives  us  a  basis  upon  which  to  calculate,  approximately  at 
least,  the  amount  of  community  land  in  the  different  provinces 

20  Carlos  Bravo:  La  patria  boliviana:  Estado  geografico  (Series:  Biblioteca 
Boliviana  de  Geografia  e  Historia),  La  Paz,  1894,  P-  II8. 

21  Coleccion  oficial  de  leyes  de  Bolivia,  La  Paz  (n.d.). 


EXTENT  OF  HOLDINGS 


23 


and  departments  at  the  date  referred  to  (1877).  On  this  basis, 
allowing  an  average  of  five  tupus  (1.75  acre)  for  each  originario, 
since  most  of  the  land  left  them  is  poor,  and  three  tupus  (1.05 
acre)  for  each  agregado,  the  figures  given  in  the  "Revisitas  in- 
digenales"  indicate  the  amounts  of  agricultural  land  as  being 
held  by  communities  in  the  year  1877  (or  the  last  year  given)  as 
summarized  in  Table  II. 


Table  II — Extent  of  Indian  Community  Holdings  in  1877 
(in  acres) 


Department 

By  Originarios 

By  Agregados 

Total 

La  Paz 

129,470 

25.571 

27.363 

12,766 

2,882 

14,110 

29,917 

12,246 

4.595 

7,023 

143.580 
55.488 
39.609 

17.361 
9.905 

Oruro 

Cochabamba 

Chuquisaca 

Five  highland  departments 

198,052 

67,891 

265,943 

Probably  at  least  an  equal  area  was  occupied  for  grazing 
purposes.  This  would  make  the  entire  communal  holdings 
amount  to  about  half  a  million  acres.  Senor  Luis  Crespo, 
one  of  the  leading  Bolivian  authorities  in  geography  and  statis- 
tics, estimates  that  some  10,000,000  acres  in  the  entire  repub- 
lic are  suited  to  agriculture  and  that  about  5,000,000  acres  are 
actually  under  cultivation.22  This  would  indicate  that  about 
one-twentieth  of  the  land  under  cultivation  in  the  republic  is  in 
community  holdings.  Such  is  probably  an  underestimate  rather 
than  an  exaggeration,  since  the  estimate  of  5,000,000  acres  for 
the  whole  country  seems  excessively  large,  and  since  many 
Indians  are  said  to  escape  the  land  tax  by  evading  registration 
for  the  contribution  territorial. 

22  Monthly  Bull.  Internatl.  Bur.  of  the  Amer.  Republics,  No.  159,  Vol.  23,  1906, 
p.  1467. 


24 


INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 


NUMBER  AND  DISTRIBUTION 

COMMUNITY  INDIANS 

IN  BOLIVIA 

1854 

O       20      40      60      80      IHOM 


Fig.  4 — Map  of  highland  Bolivia  showing  the  number  of  community  Indians  in 
each  province  in  1854.  Scale  1  :  o.ogo.ooo.  One  dot  represents  1,000  Indians  in 
round  numbers.     For  sources  used,  see  footnote  23. 

Province  boundaries  are  based  on  the  official  map  of  Bolivia  by  Ondarza.  Mujia, 
and  Camacho,  1  :  1,550,000,  published  in  1859. 


The  provinces,  grouped  by  departments,  are  abbreviated  on  both  maps  as 
follows,  the  names  on  the  1900  map  which  differ  from  those  on  the  1854  map  being 
enclosed  in  brackets:  Department  of  La  Paz:  Cau,  Caupolican;  Mu,  Munecas; 
La,  Larecaja;  Yu,  Yungas;  [N  Yu,  Nor  Yungas;  S  Yu,  Sur  Yungas];  Om,  Oma- 
suyos;  Ce,  Cercado  (of  La  Paz);  Pa,  Pacajes;  Si,  Sicasica;  [Lo,  Loaiza];  In, 
Inquisivi;  Department  of  Oruro:  Ca,  Carangas;  Ce,  Cercado  (of  Oruro);  Par, 
Paria;  Department  of  Cochabamba:  Ay,  Ayopaya;  Tap,  Tapacari;  Ar,  Arque; 
CI,  Cliza;  [Ta,  Tarata];  Pu,  Punata;  Ce  y  Ch,  Cercado  (of  Cochabamba)  y  Cha- 
pare;    [Ce,  Cercado:    Ch,  Chapare];    To,  Totora;  Mi,  Mizque;    Department  of 


PRESENT  TENDENCIES 


25 


Fig.  s — Map  of  highland  Bolivia  showing  the  approximate  number  of  com- 
munity Indians  in  each  province  in  1900.  Scale  1  :  9,000,000.  One  dot  represents 
1,000  Indians  in  round  numbers.     For  sources  used,  see  footnote  23. 

Province  boundaries  are  based  on  the  official  map  of  Bolivia  by  Eduardo  Idia- 
quez,  1  :  2,000,000,  published  in  1901. 


PoTOsf:  N  Cha,  Nor  Chayanta;  [Char,  Charcas];  S  Cha,  Sur  Chayanta;  [Cha, 
Chayanta];  Po,  Porco;  [Lin,  Linares];  Ce,  Cercado  (of  Potosi);  [Fr,  Frias];  Li, 
Lipez;  [N  Li,  Nor  Lipez;  S  Li,  Sur  Lipez];  S  Chi,  Sur  Chichas;  N  Chi,  Nor 
Chichas;  Department  of  Chuquisaca:  Ci,  Cinti;  Tom,  Tomina;  [Az,  Azero]; 
Ya,  Yamparaez. 

The  figures  for  1854  were  taken  from  the  "revisitas  indigenales"  referred  to  in 
footnote  19,  the  number  represented  on  the  map  being  the  total  of  comunarios 
(originanos,  reservados,  forasleros,  and  proximos)  as  given  in  that  enumeration  for 
the  year  1854  or  the  nearest  year  thereto,  multiplied  by  three. 


26  INDIAN  COMMUNITIES  OF  BOLIVIA 

Present  Tendencies 

These  figures  must  be  taken  to  represent  only  approximately 
the  population  of  the  communities  today  and  the  amount  of  land 
now  occupied  by  them,  as  their  number  has  decreased  con- 
siderably since  1877.  The  extinction  of  the  communities  is 
becoming  more  rapid  each  year,  particularly  since  the  con- 
struction of  railroads  has  stimulated  the  development  of  indus- 
tries, commerce,  and  agriculture,  increasing  the  demand  for 
farming  land.  There  is,  too,  a  constantly  growing  population  of 
landless  mestizos,  who,  failing  to  inherit  rural  property  but  eager 
to  own  fincas,  are  setting  themselves,  often  absolutely  without 
scruple  or  compassion,  to  secure  the  parcels  of  land  now  held  by 
Indians.  The  economic  income  from  land  is  still  not  great,  but 
,  under  the  peon  system  prevailing  in  Bolivia  possession  of  a  farm 
gives  the  owner  the  personal  services  of  his  Indian  tenants  and 
thus  adds  materially  to  his  comfort  and  social  standing. 

An  attempt  is  made  in  Figures  4  and  5  to  show  the  number 
and  distribution  of  community  Indians  in  1854  and  in  1900.23 
It  will  be  observed  that  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  every 
province  of  three  departments  (La  Paz,  Oruro,  and  Chuquisaca) 
and  in  all  but  four  provinces  of  the  other  departments  (Cocha- 
bamba  and  Potosi).  The  decrease  has  generally  been  very 
marked,  in  most  cases  reaching  more  than  50  per  cent,  and,  in 

I  a  few  instances,   being  over  75  per  cent,   e.  g.,  in  the  valley 
provinces  of  Nor  Yungas,  Inquisivi,  and  Caupolican  of  the  De- 


23  Since  no  figures  of  the  same  character  exist  for  1900,  because  the  legal  status 
of  the  communities  is  no  longer  recognized,  we  have  been  compelled  to  calculate 
the  number  of  comunarios  from  the  land  tax  (contribution  ten  itorial) ,  paid  by  the 
community  Indians,  in  distinction  to  the  contribution  predial,  paid  by  the  hacienda 
holders.  The  census  gives  the  amount  of  contribution  territorial  paid  in  1900,  by 
departments,  and  also  gives  the  total  Indian  population  by  provinces  (Censo  gen- 
eral de  la  poblacion  de  la  Republica  de  Bolivia,  Tomo  II:  Resultados  definitivos, 
La  Paz,  1904,  pp.  xlvi,  ff.). 

In  calculating  the  number  of  comunarios  from  these  figures  it  has  been  assumed 
that  the  proportion  of  originarios  to  the  other  classes  has  remained  the  same 
as  in  the  "revisitas."  Hence  the  tax  of  1900  may  be  divided  among  these  classes 
in  the  same  proportion,  thus  giving  us  the  number  of  originarios  and  other  classes 
in  each  department.  We  then  find  the  percentage  of  community  Indians  in  the 
total  Indian  population  of  each  department  and,  applying  the  same  percentage 
to  the  figures  for  the  total  Indian  population  of  each  province,  we  find  the  approx- 
imate number  of  comunarios  in  each  province. 


PRESENT  TENDENCIES  27 

partment  of  La  Paz,  in  the  far-eastern  foothills  province  of 
Tomina  of  the  Department  of  Chuquisaca,  and  in  the  Cerecado 
(and  Chapare)  of  Cochabamba. 

The  Indian  well  understands  how  his  white  neighbors  covet 
his  lands.  He  is  always  suspicious  of  any  visitor  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  community.  Occasionally  he  enters  an  emphatic 
protest  against  the  persistent  pressure  of  whites  upon  the  border 
of  his  inherited  domain,  and  the  Bolivian  people  live  in  ill- 
concealed  fear  of  a  general  uprising.  Only  a  few  years  ago  alarm- 
ing rumors  were  circulated  throughout  the  highlands  of  a  care- 
fully prepared  insurrection  by  which  the  Indians  hoped  to  regain 
their  lost  lands.  There  was  ground  for  the  rumor,  for  the  owners 
of  many  farms  were  either  threatened  or  actually  attacked  by 
their  own  tenants,  and  a  considerable  army  of  Indians  gathered 
on  the  hills  overlooking  the  city  of  La  Paz.  Troops  were  required 
to  quell  the  uprising,  and  some  hundred  or  so  of  the  most  auda- 
cious spirits  were  rounded  up  for  a  few  months  of  prison  life, 
which  proved  sufficient  to  smother  the  threatened  outbreak. 

But  the  unrest  still  exists  both  among  the  communities  and 
on  the  large  farms  where  the  Indian  lives  attached  to  the  estate 
as  a  kind  of  serf.  For  there  is  no  matter  that  so  vitally  concerns 
the  aborigine  of  these  highlands  as  the  little  parcel  of  soil  which 
has  come  down  to  him,  either  as  an  individual  or  as  a  member  of 
the  clan,  from  uncounted  generations  of  his  fathers. 


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Retumeo 


M  2  1  199, 


Santa  Cruz  Jitnr 


7 


